Breakfast: Chocolate Shakeology with skim milk, spinach, 1/2 a banana, and peanut butter after my core workout. Harcore on the Floor is no effing joke. This was a prime reward. For serious.

Snack: Ezekiel toast with avocado, a hard boiled egg, and a sprinkle of Frank’s Red Hot. AKA the best combination of foods on toast ever of all time.

Lunch: Em and I had matching lunches – which is my favorite kind of lunch! I know I will still have the weekends for matching lunches with my little bug, but I’m really trying to make the most of this week with her!! She had chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli. I had the same – but my chicken had a wee bit of BBQ sauce, topped with cheddar and green onions. Today was a lunch bust, as I put her in her high chair and she lost her mind. She napped through lunch time. Sigh. Tomorrow is another day.

Snack: If you read my meal plan in my last post, you’ll notice this snack was not included. Em was having a pretty nurse-heavy day yesterday and on those days, if I’m hungry, I’m not going to starve myself. I get what I call “the hungry shakes” if I don’t eat enough. Ya know – where you’re so hungry that your hands start shaking and ya get all light headed. Es no bueno! That was about to happen…soooo…insert extra snack. Ezekiel toast with almond butter, 1/2 a banana, and honey AKA the other best combination of foods put on toast ever of all time. Plus decaf iced coffee with skim milk and a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. Not gonna lie – the cocoa powder wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made. I still drank it, obvi, buuuuut I don’t think I’ll be doing that combo again anytime soon.

Snack Again: It was my last night working in the Kid’s Club at my gym, and I brought a snack and a big ol’ bottle of water to get me by. Yesterday was a bag of snap peas and carrots. Snap peas are my jam lately. I snack on them like it’s my job!

Dinner: Since about January when I started working every Tuesday night our Tuesday’s officially became Taco Tuesday. It’s so quick to make when I get home after 7:00 PM and I’m starving and the hubs just plain loves tacos. I had pretty much always have a taco salad. This right here is a big bed of romaine, cherry tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, 3 ounces of turkey taco meat, 1 crumbled taco shell, and a tablespoon of cheddar cheese. Johnny left just a tiny little bit of meat left in the pan when he was done with his…so I may have eaten that too…in a taco shell…with some cheese…over the sink. #noshame

Snack: So after dinner I get Johnny’s food together for work for the following day – like the outstanding wife that I am – and I always make him two peanut butter sandwiches. On a good day, I can control myself and put the peanut butter away untouched. Yesterday was not a good day. I may have had a giant spoon full of peanut butter…sprinkled with chocolate chips. Okay I may have had FOUR giant spoons of peanut butter sprinkled with chocolate chips. Ugh! I can’t be perfect all the time…amiright? Peanut butter is my weakness. It’s a problem. And the first step to having a problem is admitting you have a problem, right? Or something like that.

Actually…I guess “ghouls” would be more appropriate for this month, now that I think about it, since peeps are Eastery.

Meh…no bigs.

It’s pretty early by me, and I’ve been up since five with the peanut, so Imma get right to it. Here are my eats from yesterday…and you’ll notice there is lots of orange and fall-y goodness. Twas a good day!

Breakfast: For breakfast I had my usual giant mug of English Breakfast Tea and a “Banana-Oat Energy Bar” which, yes, sounds like just about every other oaty bake or muffin I’ve made in the past, but this was actually a recipe from The Runners World cookbook. It was quite delightful. Emma photobombed.

Snack: My first orange treat of the day – I mixed a big ol’ spoon of pumpkin into some vanilla greek yogurt and topped it with with cinnamon, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds. This is probably going to be my new go-to morning snack. So easy and sooooooo delicious…and fally. Nom.Lunch: On Monday I made and enjoyed a mushroom, baby kale, and swiss fritatta. I ate half Monday and ate the other half for lunch yesterday all wrapped up in a warm whole wheat tortilla with half of an orange bell pepper and spicy chipotle hummus on the side. Yum and a half. I’ve also been grilling up chicken for the hubbys lunch during the week and I maaaay have snagged a bite of it while I was slicing it up and putting it away. I couldn’t resist, it was all pesto-y and delicious.Snack: So as a former Starbucks barista, I can admit that the Pumpkin Spice Latte and I have a complicated relationship. Delicious? Of course!!! But it’s also fiiilllllled with sugar and a bunch of other crap not even remotely reminiscent of actual pumpkin (I’m sure we’ve all seen the infographic by now). My homemade pumpkin spice latte gives me the same warm happy feeling without making me feel guilty OR like I’ve just consumed a month’s worth of sugar. I simple brew a pumpkin spice k cup (I love me some Green Mountain Coffee) and I warm up some almond milk (or regular skim milk…depends on my mood) for about 30 second in the microwave and I whisk whisk whiskit until it’s frothy and delightful. Pour in coffee. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy.
I also snacked on an apple drizzled with some melted pb and sprinkled with cinnamon. I sprinkle cinnamon on everything throughout the year…but ESPECIALLY in the fall.I nommed this apple while watching the season 10 premier of Bones on Hulu since I missed out….any other Bones fans out there??? Did you catch the premier?? Well…my heart is broken and I hate everything…thanks season 10 premier…thanks for that. Meeeh…

Dinner: For dinner I made one of my cozy cold weather favorites. Mini Turkey Veggie Meatloaves…with mashed potatoes and peas…because meatloaf is always best served with mashed potatoes and peas. (Tell me this when I was a kid and I would have lost my mind….ARE THEY TOUCHING ON THE PLATE?! Yes, Lil’ Jen, and one day you’ll love it…I’d tell myself.) I’ll share my recipe for these lil’ loaves later
this week!

Dessert: Easy peasy one here, just two squares of Wegmans dark chocolate with almonds while the fam sat down together and watched a few episodes of Once Upon a Time. Emma wanted some chocolate, but I told her she’s gotta wait till she’s older. Mammas gotta lay down the hammer sometimes…amiright?

What’s your favorite orange treat?
Did you ever have a time in your life where NOTHING on your plate could be touching?
Favorite fall TV show??

Good morning, ladies (and gentlemen? I don’t really know who reads this, after all, but I do know that it’s typically only ladies that comment…so there…ladies it is) How are we all doing?? We’re spectacular! And by we, I mean me. And I guess technically my little honey bear who is chatting up a storm in her lil’ sleeper next to me as I type this. Gosh she’s adorable.

Anywho, I’m so pleased to be participating in What I Ate Wednesday, this week, brought to you by Jenn at Peas and Crayons!! Emma and I are really starting to get in a groove, which is making finding time to take pictures of my food (heck – make and consume my food, too) much easier to do! Though everyday is still a little different, we’re really starting to get in a nice routine. At 15 weeks (3 months…baby age is so weird), I couldn’t be happier!! Here is how my yesterday went.

I woke up when the hubby was up yesterday, right around 5:00am. I woke up Emma, who had been snoozing since about 10:00pm and my milk makers were ready for her breakfast. She ate from one side for about an hour, then I pumped the other and had a banana. You all know what a banana looks like, yes? Because I did not snap a photo of it. Oopsies!

Emma usually falls back asleep for an hour or two after her breakfast, and since my MIL didn’t have to go in to work until 9:30am, I took advantage, strapped on my running shoes, and headed out into the cool autumn air!! I find there is no time I enjoy running more than on a nice fall morning. I love the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet and the scent of fires burning in nearby fireplaces in the air. Ah, bliss. Two and a half miles of it yesterday. Not bad, considering I ran three miles (farthest post-baby) on Saturday and was still pretty sore from it. Once I got home I even had time for an AM shower and to make myself a nice post-run breakfast!

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoesssssssss. Whenever I make baked potatoes, I always always always make extras.It requires minimal effort, since I’m already baking potatoes, AND it means I can make breakfast potatoes in no time at all the next morning. This here is my favorite combination: 1/2 of a potato with some diced bell peppers, lots of granulated garlic, and even more Franks Red Hot! I saute the potatoes and peppers in just a tiny bit of olive oil until the potatoes start to get crispy and the peppers soften over medium heat. Then, I sprinkle (it’s actually more like a downpour) in the hot sauce. I crack two eggs on top, pop a lid on it, and let it cook until the eggs are set. If I’m feeling really crazy I sometimes add a handful of shredded cheddar cheese on top, too. Yesterday I was feeling super crazy and topped it with some scallions and even more Franks Red Hot. Ugh. Once I get going on a Franks Red Hot kick…it’s hard for me to stop.

I also had my giant mug of English Breakfast Tea while Kelly and Michael was on since Emma was still snoozing.

Snack: By around 11, the hubby comes home for lunch, and I needed a snack. While I heated up his lunch for him (because I am the best wife, ever) I munched on a little pumpkin chocolate chip cookie I made Monday night. I’m still working on the recipe, but I hope to share it soon!

Lunch: I always try and get a bit of laundry done midday, and yesterday I succeeded! Then it was time for more food. I had some leftover pulled pork from dinner Monday night, so when in doubt….I just make a quesadilla! Pulled pork, some shredded cheddar, and green onions. Plus leftover frozen veggies from the night before…I mixed in extra edamame for good measure. I love leftovers, man. Who’s with me?

I had just a few errands to run yesterday afternoon so the little lady and I went out for a few. I made a pit stop at Barnes and Noble to pick up the latest issues of Runners World. Once we got home, I plopped Emma on my lap and we enjoyed our magazine together while I sipped my first Pumpkin Spice coffee of the season!! Yummmers!! I also wound up snagging a handful of trail mix before dinner. Wegmans had a “Trail Mix Bar” and my recent obsession is a combination of dry roasted almonds, honey roasted peanuts, pumpkin seeds, annnnnnnd dark chocolate chunks. Love it!

Dinner: Have you ever just had one of those nights where you knew no matter what you made for dinner you just wouldn’t be happy with it? That was me last night. I wound up throwing together a quick pasta with chicken, white beans, spinach, garlic, and lemon. I’ve made it before and loved it. I really just wasn’t feeling it last night, though. I guess that’s kind of a good thing when I think about it though…it stopped me from going back for more!

And that, my friends, is all she wrote! After dinner the hubs and I sat down to watch some Once Upon A Time on Netflix (My latest obsession. I can’t wait for the new season to start!) and Emma snooze/ate from 7:30 until 9:30…then she just snoozed. I decided to join at about 10:00!

I have returned with my favorite post of the week… What I Ate Wednesday!!I figured this was my best bet for getting a post up these days, as I haven’t been cooking too much of anything new to share a recipe with you, nor have I been working out regularly yet, as I still have two more weeks until I see my doctor again (though, I won’t lie, I’ve been trying to squeeze in a few minutes of yoga every day and I’ve been taking the little miss for walks in her stroller around the neighborhood!)

As always, shout out to our lovely host, Jenn, at Peas and Crayons!! First, we shall discuss my eats from yesterday…then…motherhood!

Breakfast: Every morning is a little different lately, as Emma’s sleep schedule is still not exactly a schedule quite yet. Yesterday I was up from 4:30 to 6:30 nursing her and changing her and lulling her back to sleep but I went back to sleep and she woke me up at 9:00 with her “MOM I’M SO HUNGRY!” cry. So first thing as soon as I’m up I feed her for a half an hour while my belly rumbles. I’m starving by the time I get to make my own breakfast…which winds up being 2 eggs plus 2 egg whites with Frank’s Red Hot, a whole wheat English muffin with smart balance, a handful of sliced strawberries, a banana, and a giant mug of English Breakfast Tea. While I was making my eggs…which were meant to be over easy…I heard Emma poop from two rooms away (she is a powerful pooper) so I ran to change her and my yolks cooked all the way through. If that’s not unconditional love I don’t know what is. 😉

Snack: My first snack of the day was a Kashi Chocolate Almond and Sea Salt with Chia bar…which is mighty tasty and fairly healthy for a prepackaged granola bar…while nursing the little lady. My second snack of the day, also enjoyed during a mid day nursing sesh, was a perfect plum! It was less than two bucks for two pounds of these babies at Wegmans this weekend and I was all over it!

Lunch: Lunch was kind of an ordeal yesterday. Just in that, in a perfect world, both snack times would have been lunch were I not feeding a hungry, hungry baby. I finally got the munchkin to fall asleep so I made this delicious taco salad. My father in law walks into the kitchen and says “it’s quiet in here”…sigh…and right on cue she started screaming. I put my salad down, change her diaper to discover she had a huuuge blow out and I needed to change her onsie, too, and of course I actually put away the laundry so they were all upstairs. I finally had her dressed again and she starts sucking her hands like a maniac ( that’s baby talk for “feed me immediately, woman” for those who don’t know) so of course, I fed her…for forty minutes…while staring at my salad waiting to be eaten.

Snack: An oldie but a goodie…plain Greek yogurt with peanut butter, honey, and some chocolate chips. Although after 4-weeks it does feel like my appetite has finally evened out, I pretty much feel starving alllllllll the time. This snack helps. 🙂

Dinner: Sometimes I think everyone needs some cheese and bacon. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I had my cheese and bacon on top of some homemade potato wedges with some scallions, broccoli, and a quick chipotle dipping sauce (1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 of a minced chipotle in adobo, and a pinch of salt.) It was banginnnnn!

After dinner it was about 8:00pm and I made myself a glass of chocolate milk before I sat down to feed the baby again. By 10:00 she was satisfied, changed twice, and snoozing…so I hit the hay, too. We slept from about 10:30 to almost but not quite 1:00am before she woke me up for more noms.

Late Night Snack: These Luna Protein Bars have been a godsend during my late night feedings. They are pretty small but pack a whopping 12 grams of protein – which means I can eat them quickly and actually feel satisfied for a while! I enjoyed this bad boy in bed by the soft glow of a nightlight, while feeding my baby girl at 2:00am. Obviously I would choose the chocolate peanut butter flavor…but the cookie dough is quite delightful, too.

So there we have a full day of eats for nursing mom, me!!

NOW ONTO MOTHERHOOD!!
I’m not gonna lie to you…these last four weeks have been a whirlwind for sure! I am completely flabbergasted that my baby girl is four weeks old today and will be a full month old this weekend!! Even when my days have no real distinct beginning or end it’s astounding how quickly time is going by. I’m doing everything I can to soak up the moments I have with my daughter while she’s this teeny tiny person…but I notice changes in her every day and I can’t help but be excited by what the future will bring!!

ABOUT BREASTFEEDING
My decision to breastfeed is one thing I receive the most questions about and I can say without hesitation that I know it was the right choice. “Are you sure she’s eating enough?” is a common question. Here’s a fun fact: yesterday I fed Emma for a grand total of 6 hours and 24 minutes. I’ve been using a fancy app the last two weeks recommended to me by my dear friend and fellow new mommy, Desirae, called “Feed Baby” which helps me to time and keep track of feedings, diapers, sleep, and it has been SO helpful! Then we get to “Are you sure she’s not eating too much?” *sigh* Sometimes I think it’s a bigger pain in the fanny to EXPLAIN breastfeeding to people then breastfeeding is itself! Even when I’m running on two hour of sleep at a time I am very patient with my baby. I am much less patient with grown-ups. Lucky for me, I feel very blessed that the important people in my life support my decision to breastfeed! I really wish more people would educate themselves about breastfeeding…and in general…before making assumptions about the well-being of my child.

ON MY POSTPARTUM BODY
Something I find particularly fascinating about some other women, and society in general I suppose, is how often you hear that a body is “ruined” after having a baby. It’s so common to hear other women complain about how their body was never the same after giving birth. There was even a part of me that was concerned I may feel the same way after having Emma. I can tell you now, though, that I cannot for a moment understand how anyone can feel that way about their body after their baby is born. I LOVE my postpartum body. Sure, there are parts of me that are still squishy…I had a baby four weeks ago! But my squishy body was the home of my beautiful, baby girl for 40 weeks. My hips may be wider, my butt may be smaller, and my clothes may fit me differently, but I could NEVER hate my body after it gave me the greatest gift I have ever received. Once I’m in the clear to work out again, I will be doing so of course. But I certainly won’t be obsessed with “getting my body back.” What I will be focusing on is making the most of this new, beautiful body I have now, and seeing what other amazing things it’s capable of doing.

I’m not sure if you’ve gathered this about me by now, but I’m not really much of a baker. I can safely say this is the truth for a few reasons.

First and foremost, I’ve always been more of the “creative” type in the kitchen and I always have a very hard time following recipes. It’s not that I’m incapable of doing so. It’s just that baking is so exact that, personally, I can never get that excited about it.

What’s so exciting about following directions??

Nothing, I say!

That’s what I’ve always lovedso much about cooking. Sure, there are techniques that I may need to know or ratios that are important but, ultimately, every time I whip something up in the kitchen the best part, for me, is that I don’t need to think about measuring or having things precisely a specific way and I know that whatever I make will still turn out delicious!

Another thing about baking is that the result of baking is so rarely healthy that I can’t justify even bothering to bake something. Sure, there are some baked goods that I adore. I love a buttery croissant or cheese danish, I swoon over carrot cake, and I have a hard time saying no to brownies (especially if there are nuts in them!). Luckily, though, it’s always pretty easy for me to refuse a slice of chocolate cake, apple pie, or a big deli blueberry muffin. As someone who typically advocates eating healthy, when I DO bake it’s usually something like my banana oat muffin/bars or something similar, where there is no white flour or butter to be found!

For Easter this year, though, when I decided to make breakfast for the family I knew that I wanted to have something sweet to accompany the quiche I was making and although fruit is delicious (and was had in abundance) I decided to give baking something a whirl. Another pastry that I enjoy and my husband in particular loves is coffee cake. Nothing too crazy about it. Not some fancy, fruity, glazed nonsense. Just a lovely cinnamon swirl coffee cake.

I found a fairly basic recipe for a standard classic coffee cake and spruced it up to make it my own (because I just can’t help myself). The batter is spiked with lemon zest and cinnamon and uses white whole wheat flour to get some fiber in your diet! I also used plain, nonfat greek yogurt to replace the traditional sour cream used in most coffee cake recipes and this recipe turned out perfectly moist and tender. The cinnamon swirl contains oats and walnuts to bulk it out because I wanted as much swirl as possible without adding anymore sugar to the recipe. The resulting coffee cake was delightful, especially paired with a steaming hot cup of English Breakfast Tea with milk and honey (or ya know…coffee…if you’re like most people.) I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×9 inch baking dish with some nonstick spray and set aside.

To make he cinnamon swirl: combine the sugars, oats, walnuts, and cinnamon in a small dish. Add the vanilla and the softened butter and, using your hands, smush everything together until the butter is distributed and the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer if that what you’ve got) cream together the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes on medium speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, vanilla extract, and lemon zest and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture with your mixer on low speed. Add 1/2 of the yogurt and combine. Add the remaining flour and combine, followed by the yogurt.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the cinnamon swirl mixture. Top with the remaining batter, making sure you spread it out to cover the swirl, and top with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Bake the coffeecake for 45-55 minuets, or until a toothpick (or heck, I always just use a knife) inserted in the center of the coffeecake comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving…preferably to people you love…because you’re not going to want to share this coffeecake with just anyone.

Do you have a favorite breakfast pastry??

Do you prefer coffee or tea??

Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget to grab a badge and link up with your favorite real food recipe, today!!